I caught up with an excited Jonathan Hunter, leader of Devizes Town Council’s independent party The Guardians, and local loyal youth worker Steve Dewar to rap about an imminent youth centre coming to Sidmouth Street in Devizes….
I was aware Jonathan swore to create a youth project in town some years ago and was engaging with teenagers, researching what their expectations of such a place might contain.
“This is all part of a speech I made in council years ago,” he told me, “Asking the council to support three objectives, which were civic recognition for young people, to put them on equal standing to all the other recognitions we do in the annual civic awards, which we now do and that’s brilliant. The second was a street engagement program where we work with disenfranchised young people, on the streets, through an outreach team.”
“It’s taken four years to get the premises,” he continued. “The council have decided to redeploy what was an old bed shop. What it does is gets to the youth right in the middle of town, gives them their own café.”
If like me, your memories of youth clubs are dubious, based on the out of touch approach of our elders at the time, I was keen to discover how much of the project will be created by youths themselves. “The vison is that they get to run it and be integral rather than a bunch of older people meaning well but not necessarily understanding all the issues and concerns young people have,” Jonathan replied. “It’s going to be brilliant!”
He used the word “brilliant” numerous times, our own version of Paul Whitehouse’s Fast Show character, Brilliant Kid, right here on our town council!! But are we to overcome the stigma of said youth clubs of the past which tended to not engage the youth who might need it most?
“Absolutely,” Jonathan responded with his constant air of enthusiasm, “I’m really focussed on that, taking a collaborative approach with different people, with Steve Dewar, who inspired me five years ago to stand. Steve spoke of a ‘missing piece in a jigsaw’ with youth provision. I just wanted to go and bat for young people, and doing what’s right for the community rather than a political party or any ideological stuff, and make things happen that way, which I’m glad we can.”
I couldn’t think of a better local youth worker than Steve Dewar to be involved in this project, but as the sole-creator of a mobile youth charity and his mobile Youth Pop-Up Café travelling the county providing leisure facilities to youth, I was concerned his involvement with the youth centre would reduce usage of the pop-up café project. “We, as a charity haven’t had any financial provision for staffing the centre, that would be perhaps an independent youth worker,” Steve explained, “or someone employed by the council, to man it. The challenge we have as a small charity is we’re also committed to supporting young people in schools, through detached youth work, and there’s only me in this area and a few volunteers.”
“It is a constant battle and challenge, and is nationally, to reinvest back into youth workers as a vocation, to give it the time and professionalism that we think it deserves,” Steve expressed. “Unfortunately cuts to services has removed a lot of that peoplepower, to be able to commit to it. As much as I would love to give more time to it, as I certainly have a heart and vision for it, that needs to align with our other projects.”
“For me the challenge will always be an applicate to Wiltshire council, town councils that a centre-based provision isn’t a quick fix and isn’t a one-size fits all. It must compliment and work alongside with detached youth work, such as our pop-up van, schools-based work, and uniformed organisations, other charities. It must be a part of that. The Pop-Up Youth Cafe has had its busiest year, and we’re in the process of converting another van, to be able to respond to more needs across the county. Obviously, I want to see all these elements of youth work flourish.”
Jonathan informed me there would be three floors, the ground floor as a youth space “where they can congregate with a coffee bar or whatever they want to put in. They can hang out and discuss things in a safe space and enjoy each other’s company, without the cost of a coffee in a regular place.”
Plans for the first floor is “an aspirational hub, where different youth agencies can come together and work direct and deliver their visions. The top floor we’d love to se it going to an external educational provider which works with young people who might be disenfranchised from normal education, that are getting bused or taxied around the county access basic maths and English, to have something more local, which is sits far better for these local young people who have slipped through.”
Current town Mayor and councillor Ian Hopkins has also been working towards the project. Jonathan furthered, “also, what we’ve done in conjunction with this is, Ian Hopkins and I, are building a relationship with Devizes School, which is going well. We had a forum last week with the head and a selection of students. They’re really interested in this; they want to be involved and take a lead and be part of it.”
“What was brilliant was, when we met with the school, one of the students… these young people are so eloquent, articulate and knowledgeable, I was massively inspired by them… one of them said, ‘we need to help the parents too,’ because there are parents out there who are looking after and struggling to help teenagers growing up. It’s not an easy task, and some parents out there could probably do with some support; that came from the young people, that wasn’t our suggestion, so there’s possibilities on the top floor to develop a meeting place for parents to come together and share ideas and concerns.”
On youth engaging with the project, Steve added, “if we were doing it without them, we’ve missed the point. That’s why I’ve advocated several our local councillors to engage with young people and working in better partnerships with school staff so young people are involved, on the grounds on training.” He exampled a girl today who had been helping him create posters to go up in the youth space as they develop it, to let people know to ‘watch this space.’ “And we spoke about what she thinks the teenagers need and want.”
“Results of the school survey was young people would like safe places to go,” Steve explained, “and safe people to be able to speak to, and that’s nothing new, it’s been the case for years, and is certainly true in Devizes. Yet we’ve not been able to respond to them. That’s why I’m so chuffed, pleased, stoked, that hopefully Devizes… well, that this is the start of the journey which is starting to respond to that.”
“I’m really encouraged,” Jonathan said, “and we’ve got some seeds running through the area board, but I want to attract some funders to be able to run it, and for it to be successful and sustainable for years to come.”
I thought out loud, that the previous youth club in Devizes being attached to the school may have been viewed a hindrance and rather off-putting to the youth, whereas this, regardless of the school’s keen involvement, is geographically separate from it.
“Yes,” Jonathan agreed, “Bang in the centre of town! And what we’re looking at next is a brand, there’s a provisional name that we’ve given it, but young people are examining different kind branding and names, to give it the right kind of profile as well, and that’s with them. I think they should be the architects of that, and how they want it to develop. It’s just a great breakthrough, more to do, and talking with Steve and Ian, we want this to be super sustainable, and we want it to run itself.”
“I’m looking for this to have a halo effect,” Jonathan said, “maybe the minority of young people who find themselves disenfranchised and don’t have the infrastructure that some can enjoy, or maybe they don’t have good role models, they might look at this place and think I’d rather be there in a positive environment than be caught up in anti-social behaviour.”
Steve spoke fondly of a new national youth program, discussing a coloration of a lack of youth services has resulted in a trend of anti-social behaviour, “and those links as to how we, as communities, invest in our young people positively, goes in line with those elements to society which will take advantage of our young people,” he explained. “So, doing nothing, to me, isn’t an option, and that’s why I’m pleased the town and county council and other local organisations, hopefully local businesses as well, will get onboard with insuring that Devizes has the pullies to develop youth work provision.”
On the matter of a prospective opening date, Jonathan estimated, “the work is underway, we’re aiming for spring, an aspirational date. It’s all about working together, and I was really encouraged by MP Brian Matthew’s support, he recognises there’s a void of this kind of activity, which we’re aiming to fill.”
It all sounds amazing, certainly far better than my memories of a youth club, where you’d discover the most diluted orange squash known to mankind, in a drafty scout hall, and two kids playing on an undersized snooker table, while an aged vicar snored on a broken wooden chair in the corner! It’s all too late to save me, but good news for those just slightly younger than me! That, thanks to the organisers of this project, the youth are positively encouraged to engage with inputting what they want to get from the project.
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